The room was dark
by Exceptance is the key
Summary: Lina Inverse wakes up, but decides it's to early so rolls over to go back to sleep but... pg-13 read to find out and latter chap. p.s Out of character.
1. Default Chapter

I do not own the slayer!

Everyone is out of character, everyone.  I think I was high on chocolate when I wrote this, but please enjoy!

The room was dark 

            The room was dark, not pitch black but dark like before the sun had risen over the horizon.  That perfect kind of darkness that is neither frightening nor too dark.  If you waited a minute or two your eyes would adjust and you would be able to see what lies around you.  It is here in the early morning darkness that a room is seen.  The room is large with a dressing table, a few deep, soft chairs, a fireplace, and a bed with a sleeping figure in it.  This sleeping form is none other then the Infamous and Famous Beautiful Sorcery Genius Lina Inverse.

          Lina Inverse yawns as she opens her eyes to the perfect darkness of the early morning, and decides it's to early to wake up so she rolls over in an attempt to go back to sleep.  She nearly succeeds but as she rolls over in her bed her hand struck something.  Something not hard but not soft…something warm.  Lina's eyes pop open and she stares into the darkness waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room.  Lina cautiously moves her hand in the darkness; she pokes at the something her hand touched.  It was warm, supple, it was moving?  

          In the darkness before Lina's eyes had adjusted, the thing she was poking at moved to encircle her and pulled her closer to a warm embrace. 

 Lina was not entirely sure what had happened but she was sure now that the thing wrapped around her was in fact an arm, she touched the arm, it was warm, it was strong and it was male.  Lina did the only thing she could think of in this situation, she closed her eyes, she screamed and started prying the arm off her and pounding on the chest it was attached to.  

          The arm reluctantly let go of her and a voice mumbled, "Well if you didn't want to play you shouldn't have poked me."  

          Lina couldn't hear the man over her own screaming so she kept hitting him.  "Flare Arrow!"  She screamed as she aimed a volley of flaming magical arrows at the man.

          The arrows hit their target straight on, the man coughed while he absorbed the shock.  "What's wrong Lina?"  He asked quietly in between coughs.

          This time Lina heard him, but because he spoke so quietly couldn't tell whom the voice belonged to.  "What's wrong?  What's wrong?  You want to know what's wrong?"  Lina screamed at him.  

          "Yes, I would like to know what the matter is."  The man resounded quietly to her tirade.

          "The matter is that everything was fine when I woke up," Lina began to chew the man who had stained her innocents out.   "Then I go to roll over and go back to sleep and I find something in my bed.  I poke it and it turns out to be an arm, a male arm that wraps around an unsuspecting me.  And you dare ask me what's wrong?  Who do you think you are?"  Lina paused in her rant and thought for a second.  "Who are you?  Where are we?  How did you get me here?  And most importantly what if anything did we do last night?"  She yelled, then in a softer voice asked a more rhetorical question.  "One more thing where are Gourry, Amelia, Zelgadis, and even that fruitcake Xellos and aren't they worried about me at all?"

          The man's eyes opened with shock.  How could she not know where she was, or who he was?  "Lina," He began.  "Yes I dared to ask you what was wrong.  I think I'm you husband.  I know I'm Xellos Metamilium."  Xellos pointed to a candle and it flared obediently allowing Lina to see his face, Lina stared at him, he continued.  "We are currently in our bedroom," Xellos paused as Lina glared at him.  "On Wolfpack Island, I brought you here.  And as to what we did last night," He trailed off as Lina slapped him.

          Lina dusted off her hands as she said, "don't you dare finish that sentence."   Suddenly she realized that she was sitting up, she looked at herself.  Lina saw that she was wearing a very revealing negligee; she grabbed the nearest sheet and wrapped it around herself.  She also looked at Xellos whom she had taken the sheet from; he was wearing nothing but pyjama bottoms.  Lina got off the bed holding the sheets close to her as she backed up away from the bed and from Xellos.  Lina kept backing up until she had gone right across the room and encountered a corner; slowly she sank down onto the floor.  Lina didn't know what to think, on the one hand Xellos never lied, on the other hand Xellos had never in all the time she had known him ever told the whole truth with out twisting it in some perverted way so that you would ultimately do what he wanted and believe him.  

          Xellos had never felt such sadness, such confusion, or such fear from Lina.  He got up off their bed and moved closer to comfort her.  As he got nearer to her, the door opened and two people walked into the room.  Xellos turned to look at them.  "Mistress Xelas, Allison.  What are you two doing here?

Xelas Metamilium, a tall blonde woman with purple eyes and pointed ears, The Beast master and one of Shabonigdo's five faced her general and priest, Xellos The Greater Beast and said.  "What in Shabonigdo's name is going on here?"  Xelas demanded from her servant.

Allison, who was seven and ultimately a younger, smaller version of her mother, with her reddish brown hair and red eyes, walked straight over to her mother and kneeled down beside her.  "What did you two have a fight or something?"  She demanded of her father.

Lina sat in her corner, not really knowing what to do.  Here she was in a large dark room on Wolfpack Island with a three people, Xellos, his mistress and someone she didn't know.  Her head was spinning and she was afraid, she didn't know what to believe. Was Xellos telling the truth or was it a convent twist?  Finally Lina Inverse the Famous and Infamous Beautiful Sorcery Genius, put her head in her hands and did something she had not done in a very long time, she began to cry.

Xelas Metamilium The Beast Master walked past her General/Priest and over to her adopted cub.  Xelas contrary to popular opinion had a strong maternal instinct as well as predatory skill.  She walked over to Lina and picked her up sheet and all.  With her sobbing adopted cub in her arms she walked over to a chair that was right in front of the fireplace and sat down.  The fire lit as Xelas stared at the wood.  In the now blazing light, Xelas stroked Lina's hair like a mother would a small child who had scrapped their knee for the first time.  

Allison walked over to her mother and Xelas, sitting down in front of the large chair.  She was worried, they were all worried Lina had never cried in their company, as far as they knew she never cried at all.

Xellos walked over to the fireplace.  He couldn't understand what was happening.  This was Lina, his wife of seven years, the mother of their child, his mistresses' adopted cub, as far as he knew Lina had only cried once in all her teenage to adult life and that was when The Hell Master Phibrizo had taken her friend hostage.  She had never cried since with only the exception of weddings, and that wasn't like this. 

"What have you done?"  Xelas demanded sharply of Xellos, as Lina kept crying into her long golden hair.  She glared at him her violet eyes taking on an unearthly glow as she did so.  "Xellos what have you done to this poor young woman?"

Xellos looked up from his beloved, to look into his mistresses' eyes, his own eyes betraying his shock.  "I have done nothing," he told his Mistress and daughter truthfully. 

"If you did nothing then what could have caused Lina to cry like this?  My little sister never cries."  A new voice filled the air as Xelas, Xellos and Allison turned towards the voice they saw Luna Inverse, The Knight of Cepheid and Lina's older sister. Luna looked nothing like her sister with her shoulder length wavy purple hair with bangs that grew past her eyes down to the tip of her nose.  Luna walked right up to Xelas and sat in a chair that had appeared right beside that of her friend's.  Without a word Xelas handed Lina over to her sister.  Lina for her part accepted the transfer and curled up in her sister's lap to cry.  "Lina," Luna spoke softly.  "Are you ready to talk yet?"  Lina stopped crying, sniffed and shook her head no.  "Alright, we won't make you talk about it yet," Luna said comfortingly.  "Xellos what happened this morning, tell us every thing," Her tone left no room for argument.  

Xellos recalled the details of last night, and told his mistress, his wife, his wife's sister and his mistress' best friend, and his daughter.  "Every thing was normal last night, we ate dinner we went out to hunt any bandit dumb enough to be on Wolfpack Island, then we came back and…" 

 Again Xellos was interrupted but not by Lina, this time by Luna who slapped him across the face before he could say anything.   "Don't even think about finishing that sentence Xellos, not while Lina is like this and your daughter is in the room."

"Alright, alright I'll skip that part."  He smiled sheepishly at the group, "This morning I was sleeping and Lina woke me up by tapping me on the shoulder, I figured she was just rolling in her sleep, but then she poked at my arm, so I of course put my arm around her.  But as I do this she starts yelling at me and throwing Flare Arrows.  When I asked her what was wrong she got hysterical.  She started asking me who I was, where we were, how I got her here.  I of course told her the truth, but she wouldn't believe me until I showed her my face.  She also asked me what we did last night.  Xellos smiled faintly, "she wouldn't let me answer that either, in fact she had the same reaction you did."  His smile faded quickly as he told them the last of his tale.  "After she removed her hand from my face, she looked down at herself, grabbed a sheet, looked at me and backed into the corner.  I've never felt such a strange mix of emotions from Lina, she's hardly ever, frightened, sad and confused all at once."   Xellos sighed as he finished his monolog, what did this prove?  Were they any closer to knowing why Lina had woken up with that reaction?

Lina who had listened with patience to Xellos story nodded when the others looked at her.  She then got up off of her sister's lap and walked across the room.  Xellos pulled a chair up close to the fire for her and she sat, as he leaned against the fireplace.  The others looked at her, she sighed.  She didn't understand what happened, she couldn't have married Xellos; the strange little girl that looked oddly like her couldn't possibly be her daughter.  This had to be some massive prank the gang was playing to get back at her for blowing up so random potion of the town and having to run form all those crazed towns people at one thirty in the morning, and for being a little to careless when blowing up that last bandit gang.

"Lina?  Honey?"  Xelas questioned her adopted cub, "Are you alright?"  Xelas leaned forward in her chair, her blond locks falling in front of her face.  She was worried about Lina, she glanced over at Luna, Luna looked back at her the two shared a worried glance.  What was wrong with Lina?  In all her years of calling Wolfpack Island home she had never given off these kinds of emotions before. 

Lina glanced up at the tall blond woman sitting beside her sister, Xelas it had to be Xelas.  "Yes Xelas?"  Lina had started to relax and had unknowingly let the sheet drop from around her shoulders, but not so much as to reveal any of what she was wearing.

Luna looked at her sister for a second before saying, "What do you remember about yesterday Lina?"  Her niece had come over to her, and climbed up into her lap just like Lina had done earlier and when she was a child.  When Lina was a child she always used to come to her when she needed to feel safe.  What had happened?  One day something was just different, and Lina stopped coming to her when she wanted to feel safe.  

"I, I remember," Lina thought for a second.  What do I remember?  "I remember, blowing up a couple of bandit gangs.  I think they called themselves: The Black Hearted Demons, The Blood Streaked Bandits, and the real winner of dumb names were The Dirty Double Crossing Thieves."  Lina began to relax near the heat of the fire and forgot what she was wearing and why she had a sheet wrapped around her and let the sheet fall around her waist in the chair.   

Luna and Xelas looked at Xellos for confirmation of this information.   Xellos nodded, "Yes those are the bandit gangs we fought yesterday."  He said as he looked at his wife.  Xellos noticed that Lina had let the sheet fall from around her delicate shoulders, the sheet now pooled around her waist on the seat of the chair.  He looked at her; she was perfect.  It had been clear to him from the first time he had met her, she was perfect and that was all there was to it.  Xellos walked over to Lina, she was pensive again.  He walked wordlessly in front of his Lina's chair and reached around her and pulled the sheet over her shoulders, his hands lingering on her soft, warm skin. 

Lina felt Xellos reach behind her and pull the sheet back up on her shoulders.  She also felt his cool hands remain a few seconds on her warm skin.  Her hand came up out of now where and slapped him, "Get away from me!"  She shrieked at him, he drew back immediately; the others just stared at her a gasp for her sudden outburst.

Xelas looked at Lina, she looked like Xellos had never done that before.  Then she looked at Xellos, he looked like he'd been bitten.  It served him right, he should have known better.  "Xellos what where you thinking?"  She snapped at him, "You know that she doesn't remember."  She turned to Lina, "Please forgive him, he's impetuous, and acts before he thinks when it concerns you.  Lina It's kind of strange that you remember attacking the bandit gangs yesterday but nothing after that.  Do you remember anything the bandits did that was unusual in any way?"   

Lina thought for a moment.  There was something different but what?  What was out of place about yesterday's bandit bashing?  The names were all terrible, they all had lots of treasure to liberate, they all talked tough until they heard her name and…that was it that was what was different.  "One of the bandit gangs; The Dirty Double Crossing Thieves weren't afraid of me."  Lina told the small group, "In fact they propositioned me.  The leader told me to come work with him.  He told me that if I refused him I would be sorry, because he had a secret weapon."  She squeezed her eyes shut for a second trying hard to remember what that secret weapon had been.  

"Wait I remember that just before you threw a spell at him, he blew a strange powder in your face.  When I teleported in to help you he was chanting some odd spell," Xellos told them. 

"Do you remember exactly what words the bandit leader used when he cast that curse?"  Luna asked Xellos, staring right into his only slightly open eyes.  If Xellos remembered the words that the bandit leader had used when chanting that spell then they had a chance.

Allison's eyes widened, "If the bandit leader threw a powder at mommy, then there should still be some on the clothing she wore yesterday."

Xelas and Luna exchanged looks, if they had the powder and knew the words then they would know exactly what had happened to Lina.  "Allison, why don't you show me were the clothing your mother wore yesterday is?"  Allison nodded and she and Xelas went off into the room's deep closet. 

Once Xelas and her niece were gone Luna looked straight at Xellos, "tell me the words to that spell.  Don't say them with the proper punctuation either, just a few words at a time with pauses in between."  

Luna turned to her little sister, "Lina dear, you should probably go and put on some normal clothing.  What your wearing right now isn't really appropriate attire when you're with company.  Xelas and I let you get away with wearing that for this long only because you had just woken up and had a bad experience."

"Yes of course Luna," Lina looked down at her clothing, or lack there of.  No wonder Xellos had pulled the sheet back on her shoulders, Lina blushed and no wonder he had let his hands linger a bit to long on her skin.  She had forgotten that she was only wearing a thin and revealing nightgown.  "Umm this might be a silly question, but where is all my clothing?" 

Luna gave a long-suffering sigh but smiled an evil little smile as she said.  "Why on earth would I know where you keep your clothing Lina?  For as long as I can remember you left you things all over the place, besides this isn't my house this is your and your husband's house.  Maybe you should ask your husband where you throw your things, I'm sure he would know."

Now I remember why I was afraid of you, Lina thought to herself.   Lina sighed, and looked at her hands in desperation and saw on her slender finger a small golden wedding band with an expensive looking diamond set in it.  So she was married after all, it wasn't just some big joke that Amelia, Zelgadis and Xellos had cooked up to get back at her.  "Umm Xellos?"  Why did she suddenly feel so shy around him, She asked herself.

"Yes Lina what would you like?"  Xellos looked at Lina, she was beautiful when she blushed.  He looked at her, and she pulled the sheet tighter around herself, no he thought sadly she still doesn't remember.   Lina looked at him, and blushed a deeper crimson; he looked down at himself and saw that he was still only in his pyjama bottoms.  "Luna if you would excuse me, I think I should go change into something more appropriate as well.  Come on Lina, I'll show you where the closet is, all our clothes are in there."  

Xellos and Lina walked away into the closet that Xelas and Allison had gone into.  Luna shook her head and smiled, those two.  Well at least with Xelas and Allison there I know Xellos will behave himself, Luna laughed softly to herself.

A few minutes latter Lina and Xellos came back into the room, both dressed in more suitable clothing.  Lina was dressed in a pair of loose dark burgundy slacks and a long sleeved wine coloured shirt.  Xellos had on his usual general/priest's garb.  


	2. chapter 2

* I don't own the Slayers.  A BIG Thank you to every one that reviewed this and yes they are still out of character.  And yes I am working on my other fics so please stop threatening me; it doesn't really work.

The Room Was Dark

"Now that's much better," Luna smiled, as she looked at the two of them, now in more suitable clothing.  "Xellos why don't you tell me the words the that spell now?"  Luna suggested.

"Alright," Xellos agreed as he walked over and sat in the chair across from Luna.  "The spell he said was 

'A power,

Beyond the 

Darkest night

A place beyond 

Death

Your memories 

Will hold

Half of your

Life

And half of your 

Flame

Will be 

Gone to darkness 

Beyond the light of day

The rest left to crumble 

Ever slowly into madness and

Death!'"

"I've never heard that spell before and trust me I've heard all most all of them."  Luna said as she frowned, this was going to be harder then she had originally thought.  It wasn't just a matter of reversing the spell it was a matter of tracking down whose spell it was and what it did.

~ Mean while Lina had wandered into another room in her home the Beast Master's fortress.

Maybe if I find something that I know beyond a doubt belongs to me, I'll start to remember the things I seam to have forgotten.  Lina thought to herself as she wandered out of her and Xellos' bedroom, and into a room across the hall.  The room had a thick wooden door with the word, 'Library' engraved in delicate script across it cautiously Lina opened the door.  She looked inside and saw hundreds of high shelves stacked to the very top with leather bound books, she also saw tall windows, which let in the late morning sunshine.  Lina entered the library warily; as she walked in she noticed the large leather armchairs and a desk made of a dark wood with a matching chair.  She stepped closer to the desk and sat in the chair, she ran her long fingers absently over the wooden grain of the desktop.  

Lina looked down at the desk drawers, and noticed that the bottom right draw was somewhat ajar; she leaned slightly in her chair to open the drawer fully.  Once she had the drawer open she put all its contents on the desktop to look at them she found, a ledger book, a fountain pen, a bottle of ink, and a portfolio full of notes and letters.  

Lina reached for the ledger and found her name, _Lina Inverse Metallium_ more proof that she and Xellos were married, embossed on the dark cover.  She ran her fingers over it as if to make sure it was real, she opened the book to the first entry; _'5/01/39, bandit gangs 3, 15 copper, 49 silver, 107 gold, 2 swords, 1 magic ring, total + $399 '_ was written neatly on the first few lines and so it went on Lina saw as she flipped through the pages of her carefully kept accounts of treasure she had liberated over the years.

Lina put the ledger aside and next picked up the portfolio; again in a delicate script her name was written atop the cover, this time in gold, lettering.  She opened the front cover of the portfolio, _her_ portfolio.  Lina found stacks of letters neatly tied together with different coloured ribbons, one pile bound with a blue ribbon, another tied with red, a third tied up with black, the fourth bound with green and last stack tied up with purple ribbon.  

Lina reached out and took on stack of letters from the portfolio, she unwrapped the blue ribbon and took the first envelope the letter was from Gourry it read:

"Hi Lina

How are you?  I'm fine just in case you asked.  I wish we hadn't stopped adventuring; I really miss all those big dinners we used to have.  But now that I don't have the sword of light it wouldn't be good for me to keep adventuring.  I would be a hassle to you more then a protector.  And besides didn't you always tell me you didn't need a guardian?  

       Any way I was I'm staying in town with Filia and Valgav, I mean Valterra.  By the way Filia says that Val should be hatching any month now.  Zel has gone to find his cure again; I wonder why he wants to do that.  I mean he looks fine the way he is.  I hope this letter got through, I asked Filia to find you so I could send this letter.  

Your friend and guardian, Gourry Gabriev."

Short and to the point good old Gourry, Lina though, it was strange though, Gourry hadn't mentioned her being married to Xellos.  She put the letter back with the others of its kind and picked up the pile bound with the red ribbon.  She took the one off the top it was written on pink paper with the seal of Seyruun across the top; it was from Amelia.

"Dear Lina 

I' m well, although I'm board stiff most of the time, going adventuring with you, Gourry, and Zelgadis was much more exciting then signing the endless amounts of paperwork that always seems to come out of no where.  What about you are you well?  Are you and Gourry still adventuring together?  Is Zelgadis with you?

       I miss Zelgadis, I offered to let him come and search the royal libraries but he hasn't taken up the offer yet.  If he is traveling with you, please tell him the offer is still open.  You should come for a visit to the palace soon; we'll have a huge feast to celebrate the defeat of Dark Star.

       Did you and Gourry ever find a replacement for the Sword of Light?  If you haven't I recently heard a rumour about a place north of Elmekia Mountain with a sword called the righteous battle blade.  I thought you might want to check it out.  The place is an old shrine to the war god Aries, so it's bound to have a lot of traps and probably still has a few worshipers attached to it so if you go please be careful.

       I knew where you were to get this letter to you by asking travelers what part of their journey had the least amount of bandits.  Please when you get this letter send one back immediately, to the palace.  I am so board here that even a letter would be good, maybe if you're in the area we can have that feast.  Write back quickly.

       Always your companion and friend, Amelia Wil Telsa Seyruun." 

That was Amelia, a princess through and through, even with her odd taste for adventuring she still cared for her friends.  Lina wondered, what had happened to Zel any way?  Lina also wondered why Amelia's letter hadn't referred to her alleged marriage to Xellos either, what did that mean?  That she wasn't married to him after all of that or that Amelia didn't know?  Lina considered this for a second; she would tell Amelia about something as important as getting married, wouldn't she?  Lina recalled how Amelia had tried to make Xellos 'stop being evil' when she had first learned about his being a monster.  She also remembered that he had more then a little green.  Maybe she wouldn't have told Amelia until after she had gotten married.  She put Amelia's letter back with the others tied with a red ribbon and reached for the pile with green ribbon; this pile was thin.

"To Lina

Zangalus and I are well, as we would be the Monstrous Zolmogostav smiles upon us.  But what about you, how have you been?  We haven't seen you since just after Hell Master Phibirzo was defeated.  

       Although it took me a long time to realise it, I owe you a great deal, for it was you who helped me in so many ways.  If you hadn't destroyed my castle I wouldn't have learned how spoiled I was, now I appreciate things much more, also you helped me curve me need for world domination.  And with out you Lina I would never have met Zangalus, the new king of Xona.

       I hear that you've gone on in your exploits to go to the outer world.  Did you ever find out what caused the pillar of light?  

       On a different note Zangalus and I now have a beautiful baby daughter, we named her Talia Cor Mela Xona.  You should come and visit us soon and bring Gourry, Zangalus is itching to fight him again.

       Your friend Martina Mel Novarac Xona."

Martina had actually written her a letter to thank her for destroying her castle?  This was confusing; Lina had thought that she would stay angry about that little incident for the rest of her days.  But on the other hand if not for Martina vowing revenge on her she wouldn't have met Zangalus and found a king, albeit won with little or no back bone what so ever when it came to dealing with his wife, for new Xona. Lina carefully put the short letter back with the others of its kind as she did she thought, Martina's letter didn't say anything about her being married to anyone either especially not to Xellos.

~ Back in Xellos and Lina's bedroom, Xellos sat in a chair across from Luna.  Both were racking their brains trying to find out whose spell the bandit leader had used on Lina.

"The line about a power beyond the darkest night, sounds like the spell calls upon the Lord of Nightmares," Xellos mused his amethyst eyes shut again.  "Don't you think Lina?"  There was no response.

"Lina, I know your still upset about this and don't really want to talk right now," Luna said without turning in her chair.  "But let's not forget your manners, after all we're only trying to find away to reverse the spell they used on you."

Still there was no answer; this was very unlike Lina who usually couldn't keep herself away for any talk of spells or potions.  "Lina, are you awake?" Xellos asked as he looked over his shoulder.

At that moment Allison running into the room.  "Mommy, Dad, aunty Luna we found it, we found the powder on your clothing mommy."  Allison said in an excited voice, she looked around the room, "mommy?"

Xelas came walking in at a slower pace behind her granddaughter.  "We found the powder on you clothing Lina but I don't know what it is or even what it should do, I'm not sure it's even magical."  Xelas looked around the room, and asked the crucial question, "Where did Lina go?"

Luna got up, looked around the room then, back at Xellos as she and said coolly, "It appears Xellos that you have misplaced Lina."  

Xellos started to panic at the words 'misplaced Lina', how could he have misplaced his wife?  Where could she go?  The answer was far to many places, very few of them safe if she had lost her memory of Wolfpack Island's layout.  "Lina?"  He called out as he got up from his chair and walked out the bedroom door, where could she have gone?

Allison walked out the door after her father, "Daddy where did mommy go?"  She asked him as they walked down the halls.

"I don't know Allison, where does mommy like to go when daddy's not here?"  He asked his daughter as he walked down the hall ways, "Lina, Lina are you there, answer me if your there."

Allison walked up behind her father and tugged on his cape, "Daddy why don't you just concentrate on her emotions to find her like usual?"  

Xellos suddenly stopped walking and turned to his daughter, "that's a very good idea Allison, thank you."  Xellos lowered his head and concentrated on first a mental map of the Beast Master's fortress and then on the emotions of every mortal and part mortal inside the fortress.  He got three readings; one was cool worry that was from Luna in his and Lina's bed room, the next was worry mixed with a tiny bit of fear that was Allison in the hall next to him, and the third was sadness mixed with longing and worry, that was Lina in the library.  Xellos grabbed his daughter's hand and teleported into the library.  "Lina are you here?  Answer me if you're here."  He called out in an almost frantic voice.

Lina heard her name and looked up from the letter she was currently reading, "I'm over here Xellos."  She called out and wondered why there was a touch of panic in the General and Priest of Xelas Metamilium.  Lina put Zelgadis' letter down on the desk as she saw Xellos and the little girl who must be Allison, who must be her daughter.

"Lina what do you think your doing?"  Xellos demanded as he let go of Allison's hand and she ran to her mother.  "You could have wondered out of the fortress and been eaten by wolves or something far worse."

Lina stared at Xellos while Allison hugged her, was Xellos trying to chastise her, her Lina Inverse and now apparently Lina Inverse Metamilium?  "I may not remember separating form Gourry, Amelia or Zelgadis and I may not remember agreeing to get married or getting married to you and I may not even remember having a child of my own but," Lina reached down and covered Allison's ears, "damn it Xellos I can still remember how to read!  And I know the difference between the words library and outside."  She yelled at him, "Xellos I may be affected by a some stupid bandit's spell but I'm not an invalid and I haven't lost all my senses yet." 

Xellos lowered his head knowing that Lina had defeated him, he said, "Your right, your right and I'm sorry I was just worried about you."

Lina was surprised so much so that she dropped her hands from her daughter's head and dropped her shield of hostility, "You were worried about me, really?"  Xellos only nodded as Allison climbed into her mother's lap.

Allison sat in her mothers lap and looked at the smooth dark wooden desk and saw five neatly tied boundless of letters on the desktop and one of the was opened.  "Mommy what's this?"  Allison asked as she picked up the letter.


	3. chapter three

* I don't own the Slayers.  I finally finished chapter three.  I'm really sorry about the long wait and I hope it's as good as the other two chapters.  Once again a **Huge Thank You** to those that reviewed.  I'm sorry that this one is a little short, and yes their still out of character.  I hope to have another chapter soon.

The Room Was Dark 

Lina turned away from Xellos to the child in her lap, her daughter.  She looked at the letter inj Allison's hand, "This is a letter to me from an old friend of mine and," she hesitated as before she said it still not quite believing it herself, "your fathers," Lina told her daughter.  "Now was there any reason you were searching for me?"

       "Actually yes we did have a reason to search for you," Xellos told her.  "Allison and Mistress Xelas found some of the powered the bandit threw on you yesterday still on your clothing.  There's only one problem Mistress Xelas doesn't know what it's made of or if it's even magical at all."

        "What does Luna think?"  Lina asked him as she took the letter out of Allison's hands for the second time.  "And how are you two coming with that spell?  Any luck at all?"  Lina asked hopefully.  The evidence that she and Xellos were actually married and had a daughter was mounting fast, even though in all the letters she had read (or reread as the case may be).  No one had mentioned of either the marriage, the birth of her daughter or even why she had stopped adventuring.  They only mentioned that they missed her and that she had stopped adventuring for some reason.  It was all so strange.  Lina was beginning to understand how Gourry must have felt when they (when they were all still adventuring together) had just learned of a complicated magical spell or plot and didn't understand.  Maybe she shouldn't have hit him so hard so often.

       Xellos shook his head slightly, "Not much luck I'm afraid.  Although there is a part of the spell that sounds like it's calling on the Lord of Nightmares."  Xellos was frustrated he couldn't for the life of him understand what the apparently non-magical powder and the strange spell had to do with each other.  What was the powder that combined with the spell that it would have such a strange affect?  And for that matter who was the spell calling upon?

       Allison fidgeted in her mother's lap, she knew bother her parents were worried and she also knew that they didn't know how to fix their current mess.  And besides all that she desperately wanted to know what was in that letter on mommy's desk.  She had never seen the piles of letters bound in red, blue, black, purple and green ribbons before.  Had her mother hidden them away?  If so why?

       Lina was getting tired of Allison's seemingly endless fidgeting, the more she fidgeted the heavier she seemed to get and said.  "Allison why don't you go help Aunt Luna?  I need to talk to your father alone right now okay?"

       Allison looked longingly at the stacks of letters on her mother's desk but slid of her lap and left the room to do as she was told.

       When Allison had left and shut the door to the library Xellos walked closer to the desk and leaned on it standing close to Lina as she once again picked up a letter on her desk.  "What's that?"  He asked curiously.

       Lina however said nothing and finished reading Zelgadis' letter before handing it over to Xellos to read for himself.

       Xellos took the letter from her outstretched hand and read it out loud:

       "Dear Lina

I hope you are well.  I was sorry to hear that you and Gourry have temporarily stopped adventuring.   Although I am confused as to why I'm sure that you have a good reason to want to take a break however long or short from adventuring.  I'm sorry that we haven't met up in our adventuring since right after we and the others defeated Dark Star.

I am as well as can be expected after marching up and down that desert for the past six months.  Even though I have tried every Temple, Church, Shrine, and other holy place I could possibly find I have not yet found a cure for my body.  But maybe there is still hope.

Why did you and Gourry stop adventuring?  Does Amelia know?  What about Fillia?  And have you heard the news about Valterra?   It seems that any day now Valterra will hatch from his egg.  Maybe we (Gourry, you, Amelia and I) should get together at her pottery shop to celebrate?  Just don't tell Xellos if he comes to crash the party, his head my not be the only thing that's broken and the shop is Fillia's livelihood. 

Speaking of Xellos this may sound like a strange question but has he been bothering you?  I haven't seen him since Dark Star's defeat, not that I'm complaining.  The less I see of that fruitcake the better my life gets.  And just between you and me that's saying a lot.

By the way if you see Amelia could you tell her that I'm accepting her offer to search the Seyruun library and to let the palace guards know that I'm coming?  I don't want a big mess with me ending up in the dungeon for a week before Amelia could get the mess straightened out, again like last time.

       Your friend Zelgadis Greywords

P.S I'll ask you to keep one of the doves that brought my letter.  They are homing birds and will always know were to find my.  I have sent one to Fillia, and am sending one to Amelia.  But since I trust that you and Gourry are still together I'll ask you to share this one with him." 

       Xellos stopped reading when the letter was finished.  He looked up to find Lina staring at him.  "You know theirs a common thread to these letters."  She told him, "In each letter that I have read every one asks my why I stopped traveling.  I even found a letter from Gourry telling me that he missed adventuring with me.  Why do you think that is?"  She asked him not really expecting an answer so she went on while he remained silent.  "It seems to me that the best chance I have to get this crazy spell worked out is at the Seyruun Palace.  More specifically in the Seyruun Library."  Lina paused for a moment.  "You know there is another thing about those letters none of them mentioned that I was married, to you or anyone for that matter.  And none of them mentioned my having a child.  Isn't that strange?"

       "Yes," Xellos answered her, "very strange indeed.  Well let's pack our bags and head to Seyruun."  He wasn't sure why but, he felt that perhaps seeing her old friends, or just simply getting off of Wolfpack island would make her feel better.

       Lina nodded, her head slightly as she packed the stacks of letters neatly away in her portfolio.  She sat down in the wooden chair and took out a piece of paper, then changed her mind and took out a piece of parchment instead.  Next Lina opened the ink well and dipped her pen into.  As she carefully wiped the extra drops of black ink off the tip of the pen she thought.  I don't know why but I'm sure the answers to my problem are in Seyruun, all I have to do is find them.  With that resolution she put pen to parchment and started crafting a letter to Amelia.

              "Dear Amelia,

              I hope your doing well.  Is Seyruun prospering under your rule?  I'm sorry if I haven't kept up with your letters. 

               I myself seem to have run into a small problem, or _problems_ to be more precise.  It seems that a curse has been placed on me, and I'd like your permission to search through Seyruun's libraries, especially the Royal library.  

              It would give me an excuse to visit with you, even if nothing else comes out of it.  To tell you the truth I'm not sure how long it's been since I've seen your or any of the others at all for that matter.  And I would like a chance to simply catch up on old news so to speak.  

              You see Amelia my problem is this, I woke up this morning and simply couldn't remember were I was.  I remember the beginning of my life and career as a Sorceress well enough, and even all the all the fun we, (You, Zelgadis, Gourry, Fillia, Xellos and I) had.  I remember the demons we've killed.  I even remember fighting over the last bit of meals with my friends.  But the fact of the matter is that I basically can not remember the last seven or so years of my life.

              As I said earlier I remember being cursed the day before, but today…well.  The reason that I'd like to use the library is to research a spell that was cast.  As far as I know, no one seems to know what the incantation could mean, or even who it calls upon.  Perhaps Fillia might know but…I don't want to get bother her while she's taking care of both Valterra and her shop.  I wouldn't bother you or the other occupants of the Seyruun palace, only research this curse.

              I'll tell you more of the details, in person if you give me permission to see you.

                      Sincerely, Lina Inverse.

              P.S is it all right if I bring one or two people along with me?  One of them you know, the other I'm not sure if you do or not.  I really doubt that they would let me go alone at any rate."


End file.
